4-H Exploring Citizenship, Unit I: Me, My Family, and My Friends

Table of Contents

Introduction

What will I learn in this project?

What will I do in this project?

What is good citizenship?

Part 1—Me: Getting to Know Myself

My Best Friend

Getting Along at Home

My Favorite Activities

My Feelings

Part 1: Things to Do & Project Summary

Part 2—My Family: The People I Live With

My Family

Getting Along at Home

Part 2: Things to Do & Project Summary

Part 3—My Friends: The People I Like to Spend Time With

My Friends

Friendships

Accepting Others

Part 3: Things to Do & Project Summary

Acknowledgements

This material was originally prepared by the Southern Regional 4-H Citizenship Literature Committee through a grant from the Coca-Cola Company, then printed and distributed by the National 4-H Council. The committee was Norma Roberts, Louisiana; Treva Sawatski, Arkansas; Ruth Milton, Florida; Maurice Spencer; Georgia; Robert Soileau, Louisiana; and Ben Powell, Tennessee. The text for the original text was developed by Robert Soileau, Sociologist, Louisiana State University, Cooperative Extension Service.

Introduction

What will I learn in this project?

• What is good citizenship?

• More about yourself

• More about your family

• More about your friends

What will I do in this project?

• Explore things

• Do things

• Create things

• Take photos

• Work with my family

• Think and learn

• Share with others

What is good citizenship?

Hello, I'm ______________________________, and I am ready to have some fun and to practice being a good citizen. So let's get started and explore this thing called citizenship!

Did you say "What's citizenship?" Citizenship is how we talk and act toward each other, and also how we think and feel about each other. It is our relationship with other people.

My Project Goals

List something you would like to learn through the 4-H Citizenship Project:

List something you would like to do to help your family through the 4-H Citizenship Project:

List something you would like to do to help your friends through the 4-H Citizenship Project:

Good citizenship is showing concern for ourselves and others around us. A good citizen treats others as he or she would like to be treated. Ask yourself the following questions:

Part 1. Me: Getting to Know Myself

I am my own best friend! We will be together for the rest of my life, so we should get to know and like each other. Just think, no one in the world is just like me. I am unique (look it up in the dictionary!)

Include a photo of yourself.

My birthday is (month, day, year):

I am ______ years old.

My hair is (color):

My eyes are (color):

I am ______ feet and ______ inches tall.

That is _________ centimeters (1 inch = 2.54 centimeters).

I weigh _______ pounds.

That is ________ kilos (1 pound = .45 kilos).

My Health

I believe that my health is:

Excellent

Good

Fair

Poor

Talk with your mom, dad, or other adult who can help you answer the following questions.

Who is my doctor?

What vaccinations have I had?

What allergies do I have?

What special health needs do I have?

When was my last doctor visit?

Is it time to go to the doctor again?

Who is my dentist?

When did I lose my first tooth?

When was my last dentist visit?

Is it time to go to the dentist again?

My Favorite Activities

Things I Like to Do

In my free time I like to

___________________________ and ___________________________.

I would really like to make a with my own hands.

If a friend or family member would help me, I would like to:

Once I made a and I felt so proud.

When I grow up, I would like to work as a:

Favorite Places

Of all the places I have been, I like ___________________________ the best because _____________________________________________.

If I could go anywhere in the world I would go to _____________________________________________.

Favorite Things

My favorite thing is my:

It is my favorite because:

Favorite Movies, TV, and Music

_____________________________ is my favorite TV program. I like this show because _______________________________.

The best movie I have ever seen is _________________________________. It was the best because ____________________________________________________________.

My favorite song is _____________________________ by ________________________________ (who sings the song?)

I like __________________________ music (what type?)

I play the __________________________ (instrument)

I don't play a musical instrument.

I would like to learn to play:

Animals

My favorite animal is:My second favorite animal is:

I own one I own both I own neither

If I could own any animal I would own a ______________________________ because they can _____________________________________.

This is a drawing of my favorite animal!

Sports

My favorite sport to watch is:

My favorite sport to play is:

I'm... Good Fair Not so good

My favorite athletes are:

Foods

My favorite food is:

I really don't like:

My favorite food to help prepare is:

My Feelings

_________________________ makes me happy.

Others can tell when I am happy, because:

_________________________ makes me sad.

When I am feeling sad, I usually...

Cry

Talk to a friend

Watch TV or listen to music

Work on my hobby

Read a book Talk to a family member

Other:

________________________ makes me angry.

How do I calm down when I am angry?:

The five things I like most about me are:

1. ________________________________

2. ________________________________

3. ________________________________

4. ________________________________

5. ________________________________

Sometimes there are things about ourselves that we don't like, but we can't change it. Maybe it's our height, or the color of our eyes. We must learn to live with these things we can't change.

Sometimes there are things we CAN change, like how we treat others, or getting more exercise.

Here are some things about myself I would like to change:

1. _________________________________

2. _________________________________

3. _________________________________

Things to do to Complete This Part of Your Citizenship Project

Do one or more of the following:

1. Make a card or a gift for a family member or friend.

• What did you make? Who did you give it to?:

2. Make a plan with your family to visit one of your favorite places. Take pictures of yourself and your family. Share your pictures with a friend.

• What place did you visit?:

3. Try a new food and describe it:

4. If you play a musical instrument, have a concert for your family, friends, or club.

• What song did you play? Who did you play for?:

5. If you own a pet, make a page of photos with you feeding, grooming, and spending time with your pet.

6. If you play a sport or have a hobby, share what you know with a friend or family member.

• What did you teach your friend or family about and how did it feel to be a teacher?:

Part 1: Things to Do and Project Summary

WHAT I LEARNED:

WHAT I DID:

A photo or drawing of what I did:

Part 2. My Family: The People I Live With

There are _______ people in my family.

Let's meet them!

• Name:

• Relationship:

• Birthday:

Photo(s) of my family members

Family Chores

There are many jobs and responsibilities that make a good home for our family. Some of these jobs are washing the dishes, cutting the grass, and cleaning my room. I asked my family to help me and we made this list of 10 important jobs at our home. We also decided who was responsible for each one.

The job:

Who is responsible:

10.

How many of these jobs are your responsibility?

How do you feel about helping your family?

Are there other jobs you could do?

Do you earn an allowance for your chores?

If so, what do you do with your allowance?

Family Fun

Most families not only work together, but they do some things just for fun. Some family fun things are done indoors; some are done outdoors. Some activities we play ourselves and others we just watch. Here are some things I have done or watched with members of my family.

Outdoor Activities

Where we went:

What we did:

How did you choose where to go?

Indoor Activities

Where we went:

What we did:

How did you choose what indoor activity to do?

Here is a list of favorite activities my family and I enjoy doing together:

Getting Along at Home

Sometimes we forget that the other members of our family are real people, too. They have feelings which can get hurt just like ours. We need to understand how they feel before we say or do something that will upset them. If we think about this before we speak or act, we'll get along with them much better!

I get along with my family:

very well

pretty well

not too well

not at all

What are things you can do to get along with others in your family:

How can you show respect to your family members?

Family Word Fun

You get lots of important things from your family! In the word search below, see how many of these you can find. (All words go across or down.)

Your family check up!

Here is a checklist for being a good citizen at home. Check your answer for each item and see how well you are doing.

How did you do? Did you check "no" or "sometimes" lots of times?

What can you do to be a better family citizen?

You can help bring your family even closer together!

Family Things to do to Complete This Project

Do one or more of the following:

1. Ask your family to all join in a "camp in" at home! Spend a whole day and/or night together without the TV, computer, or other things that might distract you. Just play games, sit around and talk, do things you would do at camp, and enjoy spending time with each other.

• What was your favorite part of your family "camp in?"

2. Complete your family tree and frame it. Hang it up in your house so everyone can enjoy it.

• Place a picture of your family tree here!

3. Sit down and talk with an elderly person in your family about what life was like when they were your age.

• Who did you talk to? What is one thing you learned?

4. Ask your parents to take you to visit the place where they work.

• What did you like most about their work place?

5. Take on a new job around your home that you are willing to be responsible for. Ask your parents for their help in deciding what you'll do.

• What job are you going to help with?

Part 2: Things to Do & Project Summary

WHAT I LEARNED:

WHAT I DID:

A photo or drawing of what I did:

Part 3. My Friends: The People I Like to Spend Time With

At home, we develop habits which will help us form warm relationships with others. This will lead to real friendships, and we all need real friends, don't we? So now, let's learn about friends.

My Friends

There are about _________ people whom I call friends.

_____ are girls and ______ are boys.

Describe your friends.

How are you and your friends similar?

How are you and your friends different?

Where did you meet?

Place or draw a picture of you and your friends here!

Place or draw a picture of you and your best friend here!

Accepting Others

Not all my friends are the same.

Here is a list of my different friends.

Friends younger than me:

A boy:

A girl:

Friends my age:

A boy:

A girl:

Friends older than me:

Teenagers:

Adults:

I like my friends for these reasons:

The most important things I can give my friends are:

Friends are people whom you like and trust.

Friend Things to do to Complete This Project

Do one or more of the following:

1. Make a new friend. Draw a picture of your new friend here. What are they like?

2. Plan to do something with one or more of your friends.

• What did you and your friend do?

3. Do something nice for an older or younger friend.

• Who did you do something nice for? What did you do?

4. Make up your own song about a friend or friends.

• Write it down or video yourself singing it.

5. Draw a picture here of something you like to do with one of your best friends.

Part 3: Things to Do and Project Summary

WHAT I LEARNED:

WHAT I DID:

A photo or drawing of what I did:

Additional Citizenship Units

Good citizenship involves more than understanding and participating in government. Good

citizenship is important in relationships with your family, friends, and neighbors. Good citizenship is important to your 4-H club and other organizations you belong to. It means understanding and appreciating yourself and your heritage, and having the same respect for other people and their heritages.

The citizenship project is made up of a series of seven units. The citizenship project consists of the following units:

Unit 1: Me, My Family, and My Friends

Unit 2: My Neighborhood

Unit 3: My Clubs and Groups

Unit 4: My Community

Unit 5: My Heritage

Unit 6: My Government

Unit 7: My World

I Pledge

My Head to clearer thinking

My Heart to greater loyalty

My Hands to larger service, and

My Health to better living for my Club, my Community, my Country, and my World.